Binding means



Jan. 23, 1940. R. M. HIBBS BINDING MEANS Filed Jan. '10, 1956 Patented Jan. 23, 1940 I v I i 2 1 222 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BINDING MEAN S Ralph M. mam, Philadelphia, 1a., assignor of fifty per cent to Stephen E. Lewis, Middleport,

Application January 10, 1936, Serial No. 58,573

4 Claims. (or 92,-1.1)

This invention relates to means for binding totailed description set forth below, it being undergether superposed sheets of flexible material such stood, however, that this more detailed descripas paper, Cellophane, metal foil, etc., without retion is given by way of illustration and explanaquiring the use of stapling devices or pins, or tion only, and not by way of limitation, since fastening elements extraneous of the flexible mavarious changes the y e made y those 5 terial itself. skilled in the art without departing from the In the prior art devices have been suggested scope and spirit of the present invention. for causing flexible materials, such as paper, to In connection with that more detailed descripbe tacked or bound together without the use of tlon there is illustrated in the accomp y 0 adhesives, metal clamps or other binding eledrawing, in

ments, but in all those prior art devices, the de- Figure l, a side elevation of a binding device vices have taken the form of intermeshing gear constructed in accordance with the present inwheels, such devices being open to a number of vention; in objectionable features. In the first place, such Figure 2, a vertical lateral section through the devices are much more complicated than should device of Figure 1; in be necessary for the operation, requiring a num- Figure 3, an end elevation of the device shown her of parts and adjustments. Unless some in Figure l; in means are provided for permitting spacing of the Figures 4, 5 and 6, various forms of impaction gear wheels one from the other, the pressures dies; and in 2e exerted upon the superposed sheets of flexible Figures 7, 8 and 9, side elevations of the dies material cannot be regulated to allow for variarespectively of Figures 4, 5 and 6. tion in thickness of the flexible material sheets. In accordance with the present invention. he or in the number of sheets to be bound together. sheets of flexible material are caused to be bound Where the device is constructed to permit such together by impacting the sheets together, and regulation, as by means of spacing elements, slightly distorting the area of impaction without 25 spring members, etc., the number of parts is mamutilating or tearing the flexible material, so teriaily increased, the cost of the device is greatthat they remain bound together. Desirably such ly raised, and the necessity for adjustment is conimpaction or binding of the sheets of flexible ma stantly present. Furthermore in such prior art terial is efiected by means of two members, such devices utilizing gear wheels or related elements, reeks, which are mounted in Such a y that 30 the line of impaction of the sheets is necessarily superposed Sheets of flexible r l m y be extended continuously from edge to edge or the interposed between the racks, and then the racks flexible material, and could not be localized as impacted toward each other to cause a serrated desired at any particular point on the surface distortion of the flexible material, interlacing the 36 of the flexible sheets. fibers of the several sheets together, so that they 85 Among the objects of the present invention, remain bound together when removed from the there is included impacting means for causing crimping device. superposed sheets of flexible material to be bound Referring to the form of device illustrating the together, without requiring the use ofstapling or invention as shown in the drawing, the device 40 other bindingdevices extraneous of the flexible may take the form of the usual type of paper 40 material itself. stapling device, eliminating, however, any neces- Other objects include such impaction devices of ty r stap n or ndin elements. In. this simple construction and inexpensive manufaetype of construction, which is illustrated in the ture, enabling the impaction to be located. as drawing, there desirably is a base member I, havdesired at any particular point on the surface lng foot portions 2, 2 provided with cushioning 45 of the flexible sheet. members 3, 3, made of rubber, felt, or similar Further objects include articles of manuf cmaterial to protect the surface of the desk or ture consisting of superposed sheets of flexible other article of furniture on which the device is material bound together without adhesive or used, and also desirably to prevent slippage of binding devices other than the material from the device onsuch surface. 50 'which the flexible sheets themselves are com- Desirably at one end of the base member I, posed, in which the impaction is at a localized an upwardly projecting shoulder 4 is provided, point on such flexible sheets. having a spring-receiving recess 5, further de- Still further objects and advantages of the scribed below. The shoulder portion i has a represent invention will appear from the more deduced end, the sides of the shoulder portion 55 having been cut away to provide such reduced portion 6. and to produce diagonally formed ledges I, I, extending at their outer ends 8 to substantially horizontal position to form a seat;

'Theopposite end of the base member I carries a recess 9 adapted to receive the impaction memher or die it. which may be welded in position. or held in place by removable elements, such as bolts, etc., 'or in any other desired way. For example, the side walls of the recess 9 may be given a slight draft and the die Ill provided with side walls'having a coacting draft, so that the die Ill may be slipped into position in the recess 9.

An impacting or percussion arm ll, provided with side walls or webs i2, i2 produces a substantially U-shaped' arm, the space between the side or web portions l2, I! being suilicient to enable 'the arm to be placed over the reduced end I of the shoulder portion 4 of the base I. Perforations. l3 near the end of each side wall l2, II, are adapted to aline with a perforation l4 in the reduced end portion 6 of the projection 4 of the base I, and a bolt l5 passed through the perforations I3, I 3 on the arm II, and the per- !oration l4 on thereduced portion 6 serve to hold the arm in position with respect to the base member, the ends of the bolt l5 desirably being swaged over to prevent separation of the parts or their working loose. Any other means of securing the members together may, of course, be

utilized other than the bolt referred to.

One end [6 of the arm Ii forms a wall portion closing the U-shaped channel in the arm I I, and serves also to hold the spring manber in position. In the normal retracted position of the,

arm II, the lowermost edge I! of the end wall l6 rests against the seat 8 on the projection 4 of the base portion I. To maintain the arm in such normally retracted position, a spring l8, which may be of the ordinary leaf ype. is positioned within the U-shaped channel of the arm ll, one end I! of the spring being placed in the recess 5 of the projection 4 on the base I, while the other end rests against a stop formed on the inner surface of the arm member I I, the reduced end portion 6 on the projection 4 of the base I ooacting with the wall portions of the arm member ll, preventing displacement of the spring. The spring I8 normally tends to hold the arm portion in retracted position as shownin Figure 1 with respect to the base portion i.

The other end of the arm II is desirably provided with a head portion 2| having a recess 22 for reception of a die or impaction member 23,

'which may be secured in position in the head member 2| in a manner strictly analogous to that described above for the die member II. The die "members I0 and 23 are mounted so that their respective toothed portions 24 and 25 intermesh when the arm II is given an arcuate motion downward about the pivoting bolt is. A hand portion 25 may be mounted on the head portion 2| for receiving the impact from the hand for operating the device.

As illustrated, the die members i and 23 are desirably provided with toothed portions 24 and II respectively, adapted to intermeslabut any other form of intermeshing elements may be utilized. The toothedmembers are simple to produce, and produce an effective result; The teeth, asshown inFigures4to 9,maybeoi.' relatively sharp contour and of a depth so that upon impaction of the two die members (upper and lower) together, the fibers of the flexible material, or oi the metal, are distorted suiliciently to interamazon bind the sheets together-but the depth or Spacing of the teeth should not be suflicient to cause tearing or other mutilation of the flexible material. The upper and lowerdies, such as ll and 23, are mirror images of each other, so thatthey will intermesh when brought together. As shown in Figures 4 and 7, such die members, the lower die only being illustrated, may take the form of a base portion having a projecting rack portion 3i carrying the teeth 24 having rounded or bevelled corners 34. These dies. however, may be given any shape or contour desired to produce a corresponding variation in e t e of impacted area on the flexible sheets, and ti.

may, for example, be given any geometric figure,

letter or numeral configuration, among which may be mentioned an annulus, circle, crescent, triangle, square, etc., or any desired letter or numeral. Illustrating the variation in the form of toothed surface that may be utilized in this connection, Figures 5 and 8 show a die member I0 having toothed members 24', in which the teeth are serrated, as shown at 32. The die 10" member of Figures 6 and 9 shows the toothed members 24" arranged in the form of the letter A. Of course, a series of letters may be placed on the die, if desired, or a series of numerals utilized in this way to identity letters or papers or other flexible sheets-coming from a particular origin. And if desired a series of diilerent dies may be utilized with anyparticular device constructed in accordance with, the present invention.

The device is readily assembled. the arm being placed in position over the base member and held thereto by means of the pivotal bolt ii. In use the superposed sheets of flexible material may be placed in the space between the die members II and 23 when the device is in the normal retracted position shown in Figure 1, and then by an impact or percussion blow against the handle portion 26, the dies are forced together to produce an impaction in the flexible material, and to cause the latter to hold together. The arcuate motion of the head member 2| carrying the upper die 23 serves to localize the impaction or percussion, and to accelerate the binding of the papers together.

The elements, such as the arm and base, may be made from any desired metal, and either as castings, die castings or metal stampings, bars, etc. The position of the pivotal bolt i5 may be utilized to determine the arcuate movement of the arm II and the upper die 23, and raising or lowering the position of the bolt or pin l5 will increase or reduce the arc of moving and the lmdercutting which is obtained, permitting adjustment depending on the number of sheets of material to be bound together, or the thickness or degree of toughness of such sheets, etc.

Since the sheets are bound together by the percussion or impact delivered to the hand poridon 24, the degree of binding of the sheets may .be determined by the force of the impacting blow. If it is desired to bind the sheets together only temporarily, a lighter blow will be suflicient to hold the papers together, enabling them, however, to be separated when desired without destruction of the flexible material, such as paper, itself. A heavier blow, however, may be utilized to cause substantially permanent attachment of the sheets of superposed flexible material, so that they cannot be segregated without actual tearing of the paper material or disintegration of the sheet material. Where the heavier blow for more or less permanent attachment is utilized, any attempt to separate the sheets will immediately show that they have been tampered with, and thus secure against the segregation of sheets or the substitution of one sheet for another. While the invention has been particularly described and is very useful in connection with securing together sheets of paper, any other sheets of flexible material may be treated in the same way, as, for example, Cellophane, light metals, etc., the only requirement being that the material exhibits suflicient strength to enable it to take the seal produced in accordance with the present invention.

It will be seen that because a percussion or impacting die is utilized, such die may be made of any desired size or contour, and when relatively small dies are employed, the area of impaction on the flexible sheets is localized at a particular point, and may be placed at any particular portion of the area of the flexible sheets desired, without requiring that the impacted portion extend from edge to edge of the flexible material.

The flexible material sheets are thus secured together adequately, and either temporarily or permanently, without necessitating the use of complicated devices, and without requiring the use of external binding means, such as adhesives, staples, pins, etc.

While the invention as disclosed herein is illustrated by a structure utilizing an impact or percussion arm and adapted to rest on an article of furniture, the invention may be utilized in a variety of other forms, including devices adapted to be held by hand entirely, or mechanical operation may be utilized to actuate the moving arm or a solenoid may be used for that purpose, any such form coming within the scope of the present invention as long as percussion or impact means is utilized for binding the paper or other flexible material together, without the use of extraneous bindings or binding means.

Having thus set forth my invention, 1 claim:

1. A device for binding superposed sheets of flexible material together, which device comprises two toothed members, the teeth of which are I adapted to intermesh, means for holding said toothed members in separated position, and means for impacting said toothed members together, the said teeth being of such depth as to cause a serrated distortion of the flexible material and an intermeshing of the fibers of the sheets together without tearing, whereby sheets of flexible material placed between said toothed members are bound together during the impacting action.

2. A device for binding superposed sheets of flexible material together, which device com prises two toothed members, the teeth of which are adapted to intermesh, means for holding said toothed members in separated position, said means including a fixed mounting for one of said toothed members and a movable mounting for the other of said toothed members, and means for impacting said toothed members together, the said teeth being of such depth as to cause a serrated distortion of the flexible material and an intermeshing of the fibers of the sheets totogether without tearing, whereby sheets of flexible material placed between said toothed members are bound together during the impacting action.

3. A device for binding superposed sheets of flexible material together, which device comprises two racks having teeth with rounded corners, the said teeth" being adapted to intermesh, means for holding said racks in separated position, including a fixed base member on which one of said racks is seated, and an arm carrying the second rack, said arm being pivotally mounted on said base member for arcuate movement with respect thereto to bring the rack members into intermeshed position, whereby the arm may be impacted against the base to bind together sheets of superposed flexible material placed between said racks.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1, in which the toothed members are given a speciflc contour to produce an impaction in a form selected from the group of letters, numerals and geometric figures.

RALPH M. 111383. 

